Jeune femme en jaune 1933

François Barraud painted this portrait of a young woman, probably in the 1920s, with oils on canvas. The way the paint is worked feels precise, intentional - each brushstroke carefully laid down. Take a look at the young woman's dress, notice how the yellow, in all its variations, dominates everything. But it's not just yellow; it's yellow with these bursts of floral patterns, little explosions of color that disrupt the otherwise smooth surface. The texture of the fabric, suggested by the way Barraud layers his paint, almost makes you want to reach out and touch it. There's a tension here between control and spontaneity, between the calm of the sitter and the energy of the dress. It’s as if he’s trying to capture not just what she looks like, but how she feels, or maybe how he feels about her. This piece reminds me a little of Balthus, in the sense that there is something both familiar and unsettling about the painting. But, of course, art is never just one thing. It's an ongoing conversation, a way of seeing and experiencing the world that is always open to interpretation.